The tornadoes that killed four people in Virginia on Wednesday were the state's first deadly February twisters on record.
Three people died in the small town of Waverly and a fourth person was killed in Appomattox County, according to local officials.
Prior to this year, just 15 tornadoes were recorded since 1950 in the state during the month of February, said meteorologist Harold Brooks of the National Severe Storms Laboratory.
All 15 were either rated F0 or F1, Brooks said, the two weakest levels of tornado intensity.
The U.S. typically sees about 29 tornadoes in the month of February each year, but they're usually confined to southern states such as Florida, Texas, Mississippi and Alabama, the National Centers for Environmental Information reports.
Survey teams from several National Weather Service forecast offices will conduct damage surveys Thursday to determine the strength and path of the tornadoes.
The four deaths in Virginia raised the two-day toll to seven after a line of vicious storms advanced from the South, where officials on Tuesday reported two deaths in Louisiana and one in Mississippi.
